'Rigged just like before': Trump dismisses polls that show his approval rating tanking as 'phony'

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed the mounting signs that he remains a highly unpopular political figure, slamming polls that show a historically low approval rating for an incoming president.

"The same people who did the phony election polls, and were so wrong, are now doing approval rating polls. They are rigged just like before," Trump tweeted.

The president-elect's tweet came after a slew of new polls released this month showed he will likely become the lowest rated incoming president in modern history.

A CNN/ORC survey showed that only 40% of Americans approved of how Trump handled the transition between his incoming presidential administration and President Barack Obama's outgoing team. A Washington Post/ABC poll also found that 40% of Americans approved of the job he was doing during the transition.

And the Real Clear Politics average of recent polls, which did not factor in CNN or the Washington Post's Tuesday polls, showed Trump with a 42% favorable rating and a 48% unfavorable rating.

Most modern presidents ascended to the office with high approval ratings, occasionally marking the zenith of their popularity as political figures.

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Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump arrives for his election night rally at the New York Hilton Midtown in Manhattan, New York, U.S., November 9, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) listens to President-elect Donald Trump in the White House Oval Office in Washington, U.S., November 10, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump yells to members of the media from the steps of the main clubhouse at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, U.S., November 19, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

U.S. President elect Donald Trump reacts to a crowd gathered in the lobby of the New York Times building after a meeting in New York, U.S., November 22, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump leaves an elevator with Reince Priebus (L) and retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn before speaking with the media about meeting with families of the victims of the November 28 attacks at Ohio State University, in The Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio, U.S., December 8, 2016. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump gestures to the crowd as he stands with U.S. Army personnel as he watches the Army vs Navy college football game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, December 10, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks at the USA Thank You Tour event at the Wisconsin State Fair Exposition Center in West Allis, Wisconsin, U.S., December 13, 2016. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump arrives to speak during a USA Thank You Tour event at Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, U.S., December 15, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks briefly to reporters between meetings at the Mar-a-lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. December 28, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma speak with members of the news media after their meeting at Trump Tower in New York, U.S., January 9, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Segar TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump listens to questions from reporters while appearing with Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma after their meeting at Trump Tower in New York, U.S., January 9, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Segar

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Immediately after the 2008 election, Gallup found that 70% of Americans held a favorable view of then-President-elect Obama, while 83% of Americans approved of how he handled the presidential transition in 2008 and January 2009.

According to CNN, Bill Clinton garnered a 67% approval rating during his transition period in 1992 and early 1993, while 61% of Americans approved of the job George W. Bush did during his transition to the presidency.

But Tuesday's tweet marked the reemergence of a familiar Trump habit of publicly dismissing polls that do not cast a favorable light on his behavior or popularity.

Though he often mocked his GOP rivals for their low poll numbers during the presidential primary, Trump dubbed the general election polls that often showed him trailing Hillary Clinton as "rigged."